Guess what hidden bonus came with working from home. New rules!

Guess what awaits you when you return to the office. New rules!

Has where you do your job changed what you do? Probably not much, if at all. And yet, the powers that be keep changing how you do what you do every time where you do it changes.

(If that hasn’t happened to you, then don’t resign. You have no idea how lucky you are.)

Why do you have rules at work?

According to Dr Laurence Peter of the Peter Principle fame: “Capable individuals need only general guidelines and clearly stated objectives in order to function competently. Inept employees require rules limiting their actions. Rules will not produce competence, but will protect the hierarchy.”

And why are there so many inept employees in so many organizations?

Well, because many organizations operate according to the notion that some people get paid to think and others get paid to do as they are told. This approach empowers managers to demand that workers shut up and listen. And it empowers workers to stop thinking while on the job and to do nothing unless instructed.

Doing the opposite can lead to greater success. As Ricardo Semler describes in his book Maverick, “One day I woke up and I saw the people working for me were adults.”

No doubt, it’s time to wake up.

Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.